Whiffletree-guard.



J. WEBER.

WHIFFLETREEGUARD'. APPLICYA'TION FILED nc .5. I914.

Patented June 22, .1915.

lwmmto a JO HN \N'EEJER- wi hwooeo attorney THE NORRIS PETERS c0 JOHNWEBER, OF ELBA, NEW YORK.

WHIFFLETREE-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1915.

Application filed December 5, 1914. Serial No. 875,708.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN WEBER, a citi- Zenof the United States, residing at Elba, in the county of Genesee andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWhiflietree-Guards, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to devices adapted to be applied to whil'lietreesfor the purpose of preventing the ends of the whifiietrees from scrapingor scoring the bark of trees or catching in wire fences.

In plowing or cultivating in orchards or where fruit trees are planted,or in plowing or cultivating adjacent to wire fences the ends of thewhitlietree or swingletrees are very likely to damage the fruit trees byscoring the bark and tearing it. Furthermore, where working closelyadjacent to a wire fence the ends of the whiffietrees are liable tocatch in the meshes of the fence.

This is a great inconvenience and a source of considerable damage, andthe main object of my invention is to obviate this inconvenience anddamage by providing a shield adapted to be so mounted as to cover theprojecting end of the whifiletree, and so formed as to prevent anypossibility of the whiffietree catching against an object.

A further object of the invention is to construct this protecting shieldvery simply and cheaply, and so form it that it may be readily removedor applied when desired.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure1 is a plan view of a swingletree with my shields applied; Fig. 2 is aperspective view of one of the shields.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and designated in all parts of the accompanying drawings bylike reference numerals.

Referring to these figures, A designates a swingletree and B the tracestherefor, it being understood that this swingletree is applied to aplow, cultivator, or any other draft operated device or mechanism.

The improved shield, as illustrated in Fig. 2 consists of a strip ofmetal 2, elongated in relation to its width, the forward end of which isinwardly deflected as at 3, this inwardly deflected end being preferablywider than the width of the shield 2 and being formed with atransversely extending slot 4 through which the trace B 15 adapted topass, as illustrated clearly in Figs. 1.

Carried by and formed upon the rear end of the strip 2 is a loop 5,preferably formed as illustrated of a narrow strip of material, the endsof which are brought together to form a loop and are riveted to theshield 2. This loop 5 is placed about eight inches from the rear end ofthe shield plate or strip, and preferably there are two of these loops,the second being designated 6, disposed relatively near together. Therear end of the trace passes through these loops so as to support theshield with its end extending, over the end of the whiflietree.Preferably trace chains 7) pass through the rearmost loop.

The forward end of each shield is deflected inward, as previouslystated, but this deflection is not so great as to bring the portion 3 atright angles to the plane of the shield 9, but is relatively slight sothat when the trace B is placed through the loop and the rear end of thetrace is threaded through the loops 5 and 6, the body of the trace willbe gripped between the forward wall 7 of the opening 4: and the rearwall 8, thus causing the shield to be held in place against longitudinalmovement. This deflected head 3 of the shield thus not only acts to holdthe shield in place upon the trace, but the inclined outer surfacethereof contacts with the wires of a fence, a fence post or a tree andslides against the surface of the wood or metal and tends to deflect theswingletree inward and prevent its end from tearing the bark of the treeor becoming tangled with and catching on the wires of the fence.

The reason for providing two loops 5 and 6 on the shield is that whereonly one loop is used, when this loop 5 passes beyond the leatherportion of the trace and rests on the body of the trace, and the hook ofthe whifiletree, this being narrower than the trace will permit theshield to drop downward for the width of the loop so that the shieldwill not be on a level with the end of the whiflietree. By using thesecond loop, however, as the loop 6, the loop will remain on the wide orleather part of the trace and will hold the shield up in proper place.

It will of course be obvious that while I have shown the shield asformed of a single integral piece, it might be made of a number ofpieces riveted to each other, and that the stock may have a diflerentshape in cross section. a

My device is extremely simple, is readily applied, is adaptable to allforms of draft devices where trace chains or trace straps are used, andmay be quickly changed from one side or the other if two of theseshields are not desired to be used.

Having described my invention, what I claim is: 7

1. A shield for whiffletrees of the character described, comprising astrip having its forward end inwardly deflected and transversely slottedfor the passage of a trace, the rear portionof the shield being formedupon its inside face with a loop through which the trace is adapted topass. 2. A shield of the character described,

comprising a strip of metal, the forward end of which is laterallyenlarged and deflected at an angle to the plane of the body of thestrip, this deflected portion being slotted transversely to the lengthof the strip for the passage of a trace, the inner faceof the shieldadjacentits rear-end being provided with a loop through which the traceis adapted to pass.

3. A shield of the character described,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for including a strip of metaldeflected at its forward end at an angle to the plane of the strip lessthan a right angle, said forward end being slotted transversely to thelength of the strip to provide oppositely disposed trace gripping wallsextending at right angles to the length of the strip, the strip on itsinner face adjacent its rear end being provided with a loop for thepassage of a trace.

4. A shield for whiffletrees comprising a strip having its forward enddeflected and slotted for the passage of the trace, the rear portion ofthe shield being formed upon its inside face with a plurality of spacedloops through which the trace is adapted to pass.

5. A shield for whiflietrees comprising a strip of metal having itsforward end inwardly deflected, this deflected portion having an openingfor the passage of a trace, the rear portion of the shield being formedupon its inside face with a loop through which the trace is adapted topass.

In testimony whereof I hereunto al'lix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN WEBER.

Witnesses:

MARTIN HULL, WILLIAM B. WEBER.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington,D. 0.

